Separation Sciences in the Czech Republic: From Historical Foundations to Recent Advances

Research in the analytical and preparative fields of separation science has a long-standing tradition in the Czech Republic and former Czechoslovakia. Czech and Slovak scientists recognized the advantages of the two most widely used separation techniques, i.e., chromatography and electrophoresis, soon after their discovery and broader adoption. Their contributions to the development of the fundamentals and applications of chromatography and electrophoresis are demonstrated not only by numerous publications in renowned scientific journals and books, but also by several breakthrough innovations that led to patents and sometimes also to successful commercialization. The contributions of the earlier most prominent Czech scientists to the development of separation sciences have already been summarized in the literature. In the following lines, we instead aim to highlight less well-known, yet important, contributions within the Czech chromatographic and electrophoretic community. Moreover, recent developments since the last comprehensive reviews are covered in greater depth.